


Snow Lily

by berrybliss



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: M/M, it hurts, oh wow guys, redefining 'what is victory', this was supposed to be fluff, tissues are necessary, vague af fantasy setting, what are verb tenses, what happened
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-27
Updated: 2017-10-27
Packaged: 2019-01-25 02:56:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12521380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/berrybliss/pseuds/berrybliss
Summary: Tetsuya is the person of all his summer dreams, encased in a pocket of eternity, to be left untouched by the cruelty of winter and the decay of autumn. But Seijuurou? He will age, will wither - because he is nothing but a mere mortal, wanting something that cannot be had, bound by the idea of having nothing more to lose.History knows the name, but does it know the man?Their days were ill-fated, their futures a dark turn in the road, but perhaps, their love was enough proof to say that they had indeed lived, once.





	Snow Lily

**Author's Note:**

> I can’t believe the first semester of my school year is finally over.  
> OKAY GUYS. IMPORTANT LIFE UPDATE: I have two major multi-chap projects for AkaKuro (though one has Kise as the main character). The bad news? The one with Kise as the main character? It's called "Shadowscape", and my computer broke down and I uh.... didn't have backup. Luckily only power supply is broken so file isn't lost but we still don't have the computer back. Will be a while before I get to publish that one. It's 2 CHAPTERS IN, though! :D  
> Anyways! I was listening to songs from Descendants 1 & 2 (both of which I haven’t watched) and like???? ALL I WANTED WAS FLUFF BETWEEN VILLAIN IN TRAINING!AKA X GOOD!KURO OR GOOD!AKA x VILLAIN IN TRAINING!KURO. WTF HAPPENED.  
> …  
> AkaKuro happened.  
> Hope y'all enjoy. @_@

Unmoving mountains stand imposingly upon a backdrop of conflict, watchful guardians waiting for the coming of a new dawn. The sky is rid of any stars, though the moon is present in its full glory. 

It is therefore a solitude befitting of both characters, to be away from the brutal sound of clashing swords and battle cries. The black mage stands in front of the white knight, and the eyes that face him are strikingly familiar, powdered by winter frost.

It will be the last time Seijuurou will ever see them again in that state, just as he would like to leave them.

How ironic it is, that the name Tetsuya will utter last will be his. There is an almost deafening silence that engulfs them, as Seijuurou treads the path of corpses left in Tetsuya’s wake. He draws his sword from its sheath, and it glints ominously under the moonlight, gravitating towards its threat.

It calls Tetsuya an abomination, but Seijuurou knows differently.

Tetsuya opens his mouth to speak.

“Akashi-kun…”

Memories resurface, and what seeps into his voice is longing, almost, but something racks his entire being and leaves him shaken, like what he’s saying is wrong.

The shadows pool around him protectively, hissing. Tetsuya, he does not move from where he stands, because he knows how strong the darkness is. He knows, and only hopes that it will not consume Seijuurou like it has done with him.

“I’m here now, Tetsuya.” Seijuurou says firmly, tightening his grip on the sword. “I’m sorry it took so long.”

Tetsuya shakes his head. “You have nothing to apologize for.”

And that’s when he moves, drawing himself closer to Seijuurou. Light interacts with dark, licking their skin like hot, burning flames. They burn together, two halves completing a whole, for one last time.

* * *

_Ah._

_The bells are tolling again._

_Dawn breaks, the sun’s rays peeking through the dark horizon. People in the town may wake at this hour, and he gets up on his feet, his knees calloused by all the kneeling he’s done. The father who approaches him tells him that it is time for him to leave, and he understands that they tell him this because people would get curious if ever they see him._

_But they don’t know what the bruises littered all over his back mean, nor those peeking through his tattered clothes. They ask out of pity, or simply pretend that he doesn’t exist. Most simply believe that it is the fate of a child born into poverty, to be beaten by his or her parent._

_The truth will never fall out of his lips again. Tetsuya will lie, lie, and lie as much as he needs to, lest another corpse be laid at his feet - or worse, another life fallen at the mercy of ruthlessness._

_Tetsuya is surprised, one day, when someone asks about his bruises._

_And it is in that moment that he beholds for the first time in his life eyes of red and gold, capable of holding such unnerving intensity. They send shivers down his spine, because they look eerily familiar, pinning him down like a fixed target._

_“Perhaps I asked the wrong question,” The red-haired boy amends when he receives no reply, “What are you doing here at this early hour?”_

_Instinct dictating how he moves, when he bites his lip and looks at the floor. “I’m not here to cause trouble.”_

_“Of course,” The red-haired boy says, though Tetsuya doesn’t expect him to come closer, trailing a hand down black space – but it’s not blank space. Both of them can see it. It becomes obvious that he had been right – this is no ordinary boy, and their meeting is not mere coincidence._

_A distant dream comes to haunt him again, that of a cold winter night, and that of a sword raised._

_The same eyes._

_In that moment, Tetsuya knows._

_“It’s because the shadows cannot touch you here.”_

_He nods slowly in response, and asks, “Who are you?”_

_In that period of time, he is given only a name._

_“Akashi Seijuurou.”_

* * *

Tetsuya caresses Seijuurou’s hand, allowing himself only that simple touch, even though every part of his being aches to feel safe. Seijuurou has never made him feel anything else but safe, has never had him become anything but himself.

Though what is he, really?

A tainted being like him cannot touch Seijuurou as freely as he wishes to – he simply has done nothing to deserve it. _Harbinger. Abomination. Murderer. Monster._ He is all of these things, but Seijuurou looks at him like how he used to, as if he is not someone beyond saving.

Even as Seijuurou opens his eyes again, the look on his face has not changed. It is such a strange look to see on Seijuurou’s face, on the boy who walks in the light – the boy who, unlike Tetsuya, has always seemed sure of himself - and while Tetsuya knows that isn’t the truth, it pains him to know that Seijuurou will have to bear the burden for the rest of his life… for both of them.

Seijuurou raises the sword.

* * *

_He is back in the stone cellar again._

_The sun’s rays peek through a very small opening, and it’s a sight that leaves him at a loss for words when he sees a dog in front of him. He’d healed the blue-eyed dog’s wounds, and they had become very close. It was almost like having a protector, because Nigou had a litheness to his movements, a sureness that indicated seniority._

_His helpless eyes flitted about the room, searching the expressions of the masked men for pity. There was none._

_“Tetsuya-kun, kill it.”_

_He freezes and shakes his head vigorously, looking worriedly at Nigou, who barks at the masked men._

_“Come, now, surely you know what will happen...” The grip on his shoulder tightens. Nigou’s eyes flash in alarm – he charges, biting the man’s arm. Tetsuya screams._

_“Nigou, no-!” A hand clamps onto his mouth, muffling his screams._

_A blast of red energy sends Nigou hurtling towards the other side of the room, falling to the floor, limp and lifeless. Gone, just like that. Tetsuya wraps his arms around himself as if for protection. The tears blur his eyes, and he forgets how to breathe, feels the air leave his lungs and make his throat burn._

_When he is left alone in the cellar for two days and two nights to starve and thirst, it continues to haunt him, to know that Nigou had died fighting._

* * *

Tetsuya then has to give Seijuurou credit for not flinching when he thrusts the sword, twisting his innards. Blood is spewed out of his lips, dripping onto the snow. His vision turns white, and the last thing he knows is that he falls into Seijuurou’s arms.

Seijuurou utters _his_ name, a forlorn whisper lost in the wind.

* * *

_“Sei.”_

_It is tranquil in that field of grass, located in the outskirts of town. Tetsuya had been rewarded an hour to himself, because he’d been good, and because he’d been obedient, to say the least. The wind in their hair, his and Seijuurou’s hands are intertwined._

_Seijuurou looks at him. It turns out he'd been lost in his own thoughts, because he seems surprised. “What is it?”_

_“Do you ever imagine a world where…” And Tetsuya has to stop himself, letting out something of a weak laugh, “-where things are, I don’t know, different?”_

_Seijuurou leans back on the tree trunk. “I do wonder, but I don’t strongly wish for it.” He admits, squeezing Tetsuya's fingers gently, “..._ _Am I in the world you imagine?”_

_“Of course, Sei.” He replies, “We’re still friends there.”_

_Seijuurou hums in agreement, kicking himself up. He stares out into the view of the town from afar, a mysterious expression on his face. Tetsuya has come to learn how to make sense out of them, but Seijuurou is somewhere far, far away._

_“And you’re happy in that world?”_

_“Well…” Tetsuya considers this, “I think I am.”_

_“I will kill them.” Seijuurou says resolutely, and they both know who ‘them’ is. “With peace comes sacrifice, and you will not rest so long as they breathe on this earth.”_

_But there is a lingering question to this, one that hangs heavily in the air. Both of them know it._

_Will he make it in time?_

* * *

“Tetsuya!”

Seijuurou sees the shadows leave, clawing at the air until they have transformed into spirits. The spirits seem to have woken from a long sleep, hovering above them as if to watch. Seijuurou wills them to leave, and they seem to hear him, because they do, though they may hide in the trees, in the wind, in the mountains, and in all that exists.

“Akashi-kun,” Tetsuya rasps, “I- I don’t think...” _Cough,_ “Your men need you there…” He winces in pain.

“I know, Tetsuya,” Seijuurou whispers, and the part of Tetsuya left capable of shock is surprised to find Akashi’s lips quivering, his voice slightly shaking, “I know. But I won’t leave you here, I promise.”

“That’s comforting…” He finds himself smiling, but it comes off as strained. He trails a hand down Seijuurou’s cheek, “Maybe… this is for the best.”

When Tetsuya closes his eyes, he has a smile on his face. The spirits pierce the sky. It clears, showing the stars, calming the storm. Cheers erupt from somewhere, and can be heard from where Seijuurou stands, more alone than ever.

He rests his hand under Tetsuya’s head, slowly lifting him up. The town will burn him, for sure, and they do not deserve such a right, to see Tetsuya in his most beautiful moments... it is a right that will be his and his alone. _Tetsuya,_ of all people, does not deserve to be tainted any more than he already has been.

As Seijuurou buries Tetsuya buries deeper in the snow, preserved by magic, he finally lets the warmth thaw the ice in his eyes. It becomes almost too much to bear, watching Tetsuya splayed on the snow, blood tinging his pure white robes.

_It was always you._

* * *

Since then, Seijuurou has been wondering whether or not it is possible to drown in solitude, but he has never been quite alone, in reality or in dreams.

When in sleep, ghost-like fingers grip his shoulders and hold his hand, a voice whispers sweet nothings and comforting words in his ear, and the hem of a robe brushes gently against his thigh. None of it is his imagination, he likes to think, but it doesn’t seem to matter, because solitude is no longer as comforting as it used to be, every empty space adding to the hollow in his heart.

“I’m here, Tetsuya.” He whispers in the dark, almost like a madman, and he doesn’t care if anyone hears, because he’s too far gone anyways. “I’m here.”

Lying on the bed, Seijuurou dreams.

He dreams back to the celebration of Teikou’s victory, of everyone hailing him as their savior, their messiah. Drown he does indeed in their praise, clothed in gold, honoured with songs made in his honour – honour, honour, honour – all this talk of _honour_ and _prestige_ and Seijuurou scoffs.

 A raven constantly observes him from a distance, perched on the highest of places, always near the sky. Its caws cannot deafen the notion that he alone is privy to the truth, and that the truth will die along with him.

Tetsuya is the person of all his summer dreams, encased in a pocket of eternity, to be left untouched by the cruelty of winter and the decay of autumn. But Seijuurou? He will age, will wither - because he is nothing but a mere mortal, wanting something that cannot be had, bound by the idea of having nothing more to lose.

(History knows the name, but does it know the man?)

**Author's Note:**

> Lily- (flower language)- restored innocence for the departed  
> //cackles evilly


End file.
